Joplin Home Depot building design under scrutiny

Aerial footage taken two days after an EF-5 tornado pummeled Joplin, Mo. shows the destruction to the city's Home Depot. Questions are now being raised about the building's construction, and how it may have contributed to deaths.

(UPI/Tom Uhlenbrock)

Engineers who studied the Joplin Home Depot where at least seven people died say the store's construction method might have led to some of the deaths.

Others say there aren't many buildings that could have survived the 200 mph winds that destroyed roughly 8,000 homes and more than 500 businesses on May 22.

The Joplin death toll stands at 156, including three people who died in a Wal-Mart across the street from the Home Depot. At least 200 people survived at the Wal-Mart because they were taken to a concrete block structure inside the store.